Bringing Some New Themes to TypePad

Our design team has been busy making plans to add more themes to TypePad.

One project they'll be working on in the coming months is to bring over some of the professionally-designed themes from our sister service Vox for you to use on your TypePad blog.  There are many styles to choose from, so the design team is asking for your help. 

Below you'll find a poll with some small screenshots of a handful of Vox themes.  Vote for up to three of your favorites - you'll have until February 21st to cast your vote.  Once the votes are in, they'll make it a priority to bring over the most popular themes first.

The design team also wants to know what types of themes you'd like them to design for you from scratch.  Would you like a theme that displays your interest - technology, sports, knitting, business, baking? Describe the type of themes you'd like to see in the comments, and the team will read through all your great ideas to inspire their new creations.   

Be sure to cast your vote and then share your ideas in the comments!

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Comments

[lja1228]

I'd love to see some new themes with business (people) photos in the banner. Also more abstract (thought provoking) banners. Teal colors.

Lora

[WORD-SMITH]

I'd like to see something Oriental and Artistic(pencil or brush work)

[Martyn Drake]

I'd like to see a London Cityscape theme included, but also a film/TV related theme (something with either a clapper board, TV set or *something* along those lines).

[katiebird]

I'd like varieties of 2,3&4 column themes that have one column at the bottom.

Also (and I know this is more difficult) I'd like the option of letting a widget (or image) span 2 columns while still maintaining the 2 column design for other elements. Like this:

XXXXXXXX XXXX XX
XXXXXXXX XXXX XX
XXXXXXXX XXXX XX
XXXXXXXX XXXX XX
XXXXXXXX XXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX XXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX XXXXXXX

XXXXXXXX XXXX XX
XXXXXXXX XXXX XX
XXXXXXXX XXXX XX
XXXXXXXX XXXX XX

That's a secondary request -- is it even possible?

[Home Base Holidays]

Would like to see a version of the Cityscapes theme with well-known landmarks from a number of world cities, e.g. Tower Bridge in London, Sydney Opera House, etc. - and other travel related themes.

[Hyndsy]

Cityscapes - Boston needs to be in there, as well as the big cities like New York, San Francisco, Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, D.C., Miami, etc.

As far as themes, the toughest part for someone that doesn't code really is tweaking and making a banner. If we could just "create a theme" with a really simple click and point interface that would be awesome.

Example: "Select picture or pictures for banner". You do that and can drag and position pictures or a picture and realtime it will show you what you are looking for. There could also be something where you can click a palette and see the theme you are creating change realtime.

A really good theme sells people on your blog. I know content is the real reason people read it, but you have to admit a good looking blog also catches people's attention.

Typepad's Knowledge Base also references the LiveJournal contest themes, so if you need more themes, including those would be a great start as well. I've tried to edit them and tweak them for my blogs but end up getting really frustrated because I can never get them to look right.

[smaysdotcom]

I'd love to be able to add a different graphic file to one of your pro templates.

[Alvaro]

With a lot of respect to this themes i find them too "Voxy", that is, a bit too soft colours.

I would have expected that they would be new professional but yet fun themes rather than reused from Vox.

Thanks for asking,

Álvaro

[gavintiegirl]

I am so excited that you will be offering new themes. Call me stupid, but I didn't know Typepad was connected to VOX and I have always thought that VOX had the BEST themes. Way cool!

I love the cityscape idea as well, but I also like the idea of cartoonish like representations of people, like a cartoonish looking glamour girl or man. I don't really know how to describe it.

Thank you for asking us what we think. This is revolutionary. LOVE IT!!!!

[lmj (alias hez)]

I love the typewriter the best! I hope that one is included because I would totally use it! Also, is there any way to do a polaroid-style photo banner that can be personalized with our own pictures (photos, drawing, painting, etc.)? That would be pretty cool for a photo blog or gallery! Thanks for listening!

[Kevlvn]

I am pleased to see the attention to new templates which is one of the reasons I recently decided to play around with WordPress. I would love to have horizontal navigation and can't tell from any of the images as to whether they are included in this latest round. Please allow for wider content fields. I am using the fluid option right now, but the jump to 500 is much too drastic. Give us wider fields as an option. As for the themes I think these have rather juvenile graphics and colors. I much prefer something more sophisticated.

[Vanessa Woodard Byers]

Please add a cityscape for Miami and the ability to add a graphic to the header.

[Jake]

I would love to see seasonal themes - spring, summer, winter and fall scenes. And I second the vote for oriental themes.

[Jack E]

I also second the request for a Oriental, brushwork calligraphy theme. I would also like a simple way to add my own picture/pictures to a theme. Thanks for improving the product.

[Account Deleted]

Themes for photographers! Portfolios etc

A theme for Fort Worth, Dallas or Texas in general

western flair, cowboys, western landscapes(cactus, cattle, longhorns, horses, fences etc)

clean, and not over-the-top

[laanba]

Cityscape Houston (it already exists in a Moveable Type theme). I also second the comment made by Word-Smith for something artistic with brush work. Things along the line of Art Nouveau Red, but with more options.

I'd also like to see something photography related maybe in black and whites with camera and film design.

But the last and probably hardest. I'll just throw it out there. I'd like to have my Flickr photos as a banner. Wordpress has a Flickr RSS plugin that can be added to any design.

Thanks for asking for our input.

[Bozoette]

I'd like a juggling/jugglers theme, and a writing type of theme -- pen and ink, paper and pencil, that sort of thing. And echoing another commenter, a DC cityscape.

[Harold Check]

I'd like to second Steve Mays' comment, asking for the ability to upload a custom banner, while still retaining all the settings of pre-designed templates. There is a way to work around this using Custom CSS, but it would be really nice if any pre-designed template could be used as the starting point for the Custom Theme editor. Right now, it defaults you back to a very, very antiquated design that's light years away from the pre-made looks, and that gap is really difficult to bridge. Thanks in advance for any and all new themes! Keep 'em coming.

[evalynn]

I like the idea of seasonal themes, and would also like to see some more themes that would be fitting for a family blog..something playful and childlike.

[Account Deleted]

Not to be mean but I use Vox and I don't like any of these. I really like a variation on one though. The "changing light" from morning through evening--very pretty. Sort of like urban dawn without the "urban."
I also like, though I know this may not be very imginative, an ocean/beach scene.
Thanks for asking!

[Shanna the She-Devil]

I really wish instead of "knitting", someone would do a general YARN theme. Just because you work with yarn does not mean you only knit. Some people dye, some people crochet, some people felt, and some people knit.

[Robin Reagler]

I like the idea of having a lot more theme choices in typepad. These themes from vox seem okay but a little too particular somehow, as though if I chose it I would be using someone else's theme. If that makes any sense? Robin

[roshaven]

I'd also like to add a banner of my own but need some help making it look professional. (Harold Check's comment is very well said.)

[Linda]

I'd love to see some more background color choices, and an easier way to place photos in the center of the column rather than left or right justified. (maybe there is a way and I've missed it- I'm going to go look right now)

[Account Deleted]

Hi

I am interested in bold dark backgrounds. My favorite vox themes are those with landscapes or japanese city-scapes. I love the "kyoto" series. Again, bold colorful backgrounds are best.

Thank you!

[addieh]

Themes I would like to see would be more outdoor photos, florals, something for photographers and scrapbookers! And some polka-dots!
Thanks!

[kapgar]

I would love to be able to design sidebars with a continuous image spanning through multiple typelists in the background.

I would love to be able to incorporate a rotating header banner. Maybe a javascript randomizer.

I would also love to be able to put in typelists where I could replace the default description text with either nothing at all or maybe a graphic of my choosing.

[Charlie]

Is there anyway we can have the ease of using code ala my space to create more eye catching graphics, that can more personally reflect not only our personality but add more emphasis on our written work?
It would make it so much easier for those of us who are not web site designers and are fairly new to blog/web design!
Love a couple of the new proposed themes! Can't wait!

My main priorities for a theme are:
- Elegant designs without extraneous interface "clutter". All graphic elements should have a purpose.
- Fluid (aka, liquid) layouts with fine control over column-widths of non-fluid columns.
- Efficient use of screen real estate. No oversized banners. Enough space for site title, tagline and branding, but no more. A lot of the examples in this poll have headers that are too tall, pushing more content "below the fold."

[iskra johnson]

I was excited at the idea of new themes and templates but I was hoping for options that would be more professional and less gimmicky. I use the site to show my artwork, so I am looking for a style that is clean, 'gallery-like" and that I can easily personalize with my own banner. At this point it is barely adequate, as the photo albums are clunky, and I cannot finesse font choices or kerning or the spacing of elements. As just a small but vital point, I can't seem to change the words 'Photo Album' to "Gallery. " Many people have complained on going to my blog that the navigation of the photo albums is frustrating. I second Mary Wise's comments!

[TomATS]

There are two things I would like to see. Maybe they are available, but I cannot find anything about them.

1) A way to allow readers to search withing the blog. For example, I post quotes, and maybe someone would like to see if I have any others by the same author. There is a third party widget available, but it releases too much information, as far as I'm concerned. Otherwise, he has no way to do it.

2) I would like to be able to search for other blogs in TypePad, exclusely, to see what others using TypePad are doing. Again, no way to do it, as far as I know.

If there is something, please point me to it.

[Alpay UTKU]

Hi,

It would be nice Vox themes

Urban Sunset(Illustrated) and BookWorm Blue/Books(Activities)in Typepad.